Mississippi governor chooses ex-adviser as chief of staff
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Thursday that he's appointing a former aide as his new chief of staff.
Parker Briden was one of the spokesmen for Reeves during the 2019 gubernatorial campaign. He became the governor's deputy chief of staff for external affairs in 2020, working on response to severe weather outbreaks and the COVID-19 pandemic. Briden left Reeves' office in April and became campaign manager for Bernie Moreno, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Ohio.
“Parker has been a trusted partner throughout my time as governor," Reeves said in a news release Thursday.
Reeves' former chief of staff, Brad White, became executive director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation in June. The executive director of the state Department of Finance and Administration, Liz Welch, has been the governor's acting chief of staff.
“My aspiration is to bring a fraction of the ability and integrity of my predecessors and colleagues to the job," Briden said in the news release Thursday. “The top responsibility is to be an honest broker for the governor and every partner throughout state government, the Legislature and private enterprise as we work together to serve this great state.”
Briden has worked on statewide campaigns in Ohio, Nevada, and Missouri and was communications director for then-Gov. Eric Greitens of Missouri.